Your Eyes are Golden
by 0xnaomix0
Summary: She's blind, but with a surgery and some help she'll be able to see the girl she's fallen for. AU Nina/Erstin.
1. The First Encounter

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Mai Otome or any of it's characthers.

**Warnings: **Shoujo ai. Not ShizNat. OoC. OC.

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Your Eyes are Golden

They met before the accident, they met after the surgery; they met when she was blind, and they met now that she can see—and the first thing the girl sees, are her golden eyes, as bright as the sun can be.

--

Chapter One: _The First Encounter_

The first meeting was unarranged.

She was jogging down the street; in a rush because she had overslept, her classes were going to start soon, and it took at least half an hour to get to the university campus. The woman glanced at her watch, 11:13 a.m. She would have to start running if she were to make it on time.

The woman did just that—making sure that her bag was secure on her back; she picked up her pace and began running the two miles to WU, Windbloom University. She kept her fast pace until she saw the University and quickly checked the time, it was 11:28, she still had a good seven minutes until her first class, The Modern History of Windbloom, started.

Happy that she wasn't about to be late for any classes, the woman slowed down and caught her breath as she slowly jogged to the campus.

"Watch out!" she looked toward the voice to see what was the matter, but it was too late and she ran into the body of another person.

"Whoa!" she called out surprised, and she used her quick reflexes to grab the person before they could fall.

"Sorry about that, Nina." said a man with dark blonde hair as he ran up to her. "I was kind of showing my cousin the campus and she decided to run off without her… uh… stick." The man, Takashi Ho, a great friend of Nina's who was also in her Advanced Calculus class, apologized while showing her the long metal 'stick'.

"It's fine." She tried to wave off the apology, but she realized she was still holding onto the person she had run into. "Oh, sorry!" she blushed and released the woman from her grasp.

"I'm… I'm sorry." The former captive mumbled a soft apology.

"No, no, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry if I had watched where I was going—"

Takashi laughed. "Erstin, you and I _both_ know that couldn't have happened!"

Nina raised her eyebrows confused and Erstin just turned her head with a blush.

Takashi bent down and picked up a pair of dark sunglasses, "Here, you dropped these."

"Thank you!" The blonde known as Erstin beamed at her cousin and placed the offered item on her face.

The blonde then turned toward Nina and gave a slight bow, "Really, I'm sorry, and thank you for catching me." Erstin looked up and smiled.

"Oh yeah!" Takashi exclaimed. "I haven't even introduced you two yet!"

Nina gave a short chuckle and Erstin blushed.

"Nina," Takashi looked towards the blunette. "This is my cousin, Erstin Ho." He then turned towards the blonde and touched her shoulder, "Erstin, this is a friend of mine, Nina Wang."

"Nice to meet you, Erstin-san," Nina said with a soft smile and extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Nina-san," Erstin smiled and ignored the outstretched hand. She turned toward her cousin after he tapped her shoulder and he whispered something into her ear. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Erstin exclaimed and removed her glasses with one hand, while reaching out to shake Nina's hand with the other.

After the blonde grasped the blunette's hand she handed her dark shades to Takashi.

"Can I…?" she trailed off her question for the blunette.

"Can you what?" Nina was about to ask, but before she could get past the word _can_ the other woman used the hand that was not in the blunette's grasp and ran it up the side of her arm. Nina looked at Takashi for some sort of explanation and he just smiled.

"Wh-what are you…" Nina trailed off after she noticed the blonde's eyes were closed and that the other woman was innocently tracing the outline of her face with her hand.

"Beautiful." Erstin said after moments getting the feel of the blunette's face.

"What?" Nina asked.

"Nothing," the blonde opened her eyes and looked up at Nina; Nina, in turn, looked down and into the blonde's eyes.

Nina was shocked. Erstin had light green eyes. They weren't light on the side of yellow, but they were so light that they almost seemed to be blue. Although, that was not the only reason for her being surprised, it was the fact that the other woman seemed to be looking _toward_ her, but not _at_ her with clouded eyes that were filled with emotion.

"Oh…" the blunette mouthed.

Nina thought about how ridiculous she was. There were multiple hints that explained what the blonde was, yet she didn't take notice of them. She then decided that she would take notice, and accessed the situation… well, the blonde in front of her.

Erstin was blind.

Nina blinked and gazed at the woman in front of her again. "You're blind?" Her statement came off as more of a question of confirmation.

Erstin's smile fell and she nodded sadly. "Legally, yes, but I still have some of my sight. Well, at times I do, but it's more random flashes of color and blurred objects than anything."

"Oh, so… can you see me?"

The blonde shook her head, "No, but I don't need to."

"Huh?" the blunette was confused and she looked over at the Takashi who shook his head with a smirk.

"I can already tell that you're cute!" Erstin grinned, Nina blushed, and the other blonde was holding his sides trying to suppress his laughter.

_Beep-beep. Beep-beep. _

Nina looked at her watch, "Oh no, it's 11:35!" Takashi gave Nina a questioning look, and Erstin looked in Takashi's general vicinity for some sort of verbal explanation.

The blonde male shrugged, seeming to forget that his younger cousin was blind. But he actually didn't know what to tell Erstin, he was confused himself.

"My classes started!" Nina panicked. Erstin mouthed an "oh" to the other blonde and Takashi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"So?" Takashi shrugged removing his hand from his cousin's arm. "Just go in late." his voice nonchalant. As important as getting an education was for him, the dirty blonde could actually care less when he got into class. He was a smart guy and he caught onto things quite easily, so missing a few minutes… or an hour of class (to him) wasn't too much of an issue.

"What?" the look the blunette gave him made it seem as though he had two heads.

"Oh, did you not hear me the first time?" Takashi teased. "Just go in late." He repeated slowly.

Nina flushed, "That's not what I meant--"

"But that's what you _said._" The dark blonde interrupted with a laugh.

Nina scoffed, "Whatever, how can you just suggest something like that?" She had never been tardy to a class, so the very idea of coming into a class late seemed ludicrous.

"It's not crazy, just go. Besides, you're only what… two, no, three minutes late?" Takashi confirmed the time after looking at his cell phone.

"It is crazy! I'm _late!"_ the blunette stressed the last word, as if to emphasize the direness of the situation.

"Oh yeah, three minutes, no wait, four." He teased, rolling his eyes for effect.

"Takashi, this isn't funny! I'm la—"

"Hai, hai!" The blonde female interrupted. "You _are _late, but you know you are wasting more time standing around and complaining about it." She added a soft smile to show that she wasn't trying to come off as rude.

Nina gasped, the girl was right; she had to get going before she missed more of her class.

"Thank you so much, it's been nice meeting you, Erstin. I'll see you later, Takashi." She started to bend over to bow until she remembered that other woman was blind, so instead she grabbed Erstin's hand and shook it in thanks before running off towards her class.

After Takashi watched the blunette's figure disappear into the building and Erstin could no longer hear the other girl's footfalls, Takashi asked his younger cousin a question. "So, what do you think?"

Erstin could feel her right hand being held in between her cousin's larger ones. "She's nice," she paused, she knew what her cousin was asking, he wanted to know if she was all right with him wanting to date her. "It's okay with me, just don't try and keep her all to yourself if she says 'yes'!"

She playfully pushed the male and he laughed at her joke. What Takashi didn't know, and what she had yet to be aware of, is that she was being serious.

**A/N:** Okay, I guess you can say I'm "back". But this is only for now, I'm working on _all_ of the other chapters for my stories, just be patient. And if it takes me awhile to update, at least expect one update in a month (a long wait, I know).

"Spur of the moment thinking" is what this story is. I hope this crap will turn out well. I hope you don't mind Takashi, and please tell me what you think him and this story so far.

Oh, if you have the time, would you vote for Nao's pairing (in Forecast) on my profile? Thanks a bunch!

Thank you for reading!  
-naomi


	2. Just Be Patient

**Your Eyes are Golden**

They met before the accident, they met after the surgery; they met when she was blind, and they met now that she can see—and the first thing the girl sees, are her golden eyes, as bright as the sun can be.

* * *

Chapter Two: _Just be Patient _

Waiting is something that she's never been very good at.

She tapped her foot and leaned back in the elegant-looking iron chair with a sigh, then muttered a soft, "Where is he?" under her breath while glancing through the large glass window of the shop.

As if those words were a type of spell, the bell above the entrance began to jingle. She quickly turned her gaze to the door and saw a flash of yellow. "Ser…gey…" Nina stood up to greet the man, but instead of her father, it was another blonde… no two blondes—Takashi and Erstin.

The older cousin held the door open to allow the blind female to go inside.

"Mm, smells like coffee. Where are we?" the smaller blonde questioned.

"Windbux café, they sell the best coffees in the area." Takashi replied and guided his cousin to a table.

Takashi, who was paying close attention to his cousin, coincidently chose the table which was right next to Nina's. After Erstin sat down, he took the seat that was across from her.

"Do you smell that?" Erstin startled Takashi with the sudden question.

"Smell what?"

"That."

"'That' what?"

"Don't you smell that?"

"What is it? Does it smell good?"

Erstin began sniffing around to find the source. "Yes, extremely. Almost like strawberries, mango, and..." she paused to take another sniff. "Something, I'm not quite sure, but its strawberries and mango, mixed with_ something_."

"Oh." Takashi nodded slowly. He had grown used to comments like these. After all, the loss of a sense come the heightened abilities of the others. And just like her heightened sense of smell, Erstin was extremely sensitive to touch and sound; she never really commented on taste, so he wasn't exactly sure if that ability was greater than normal.

"It's funny because I smelled something like this before, a few days ago if I'm not mistaken." Erstin tapped her chin inquisitively, "I think it was over at the University… Oh!"

"Oh?"

"Yes, it was Nina-chan!" the younger blonde grinned and spun around toward the alluring smell.

"Nina?" Takashi hesitantly called the blunette's name.

The blunette jumped and slowly turned around. She had overheard their conversation and was hoping that they wouldn't notice her. Not that she was trying to ignore the blondes, it's just she was _trying_ to wait patiently for Sergey to come; even if him coming there didn't exactly seem likely since he was nearly an hour late.

"Oh, hey Takashi! Hey Erstin!" Nina exclaimed, trying to act surprised.

"Hey Nina, what are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are," she held up her cup. "I came here to enjoy the coffee." She wasn't exactly lying—she was enjoying the coffee, but the real reason she was in the shop was the promised get-together with her father. Although she'd rather not let the two blondes know that bit of information.

"Yeah, of course." Takashi scratched his head sheepishly.

"Enjoying coffee does sound good right about now." Erstin hinted to Takashi.

"Whoops, sorry 'bout that, Ers-chan. I got a bit distracted." He reached across the table and touched her shoulder apologetically.

"It's okay; just make sure you get me something good!" She smiled.

"Hai hai!" the dirty-blonde made his way toward the counter of the shop.

While he was ordering, the two females sat in a comfortable silence. That is, until the blonde asked a question.

"So, what is it?"

"What is what?"

"It."

"'It' what?"

"You!"

Nina opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again before shutting it with a cute look of confusion.

"I mean…" Erstin blushed after realizing what she was saying didn't make sense. "What is the other scent?"

"Other… scent?" Nina questioned slowly.

"Uh huh, I can smell strawberries, mango and something else, but I just can't figure out what that 'something else' is."

"Oh." The blunette laughed. "Nina Ricci."

"You what?" Erstin tilted her head slightly to the side.

"No, no!" Nina shook her head and pulled an apple-shaped bottle out of her bag. "It's my perfume, I don't know anything about it but the fact it's called 'Nina Ricci'." She uncapped the bottle and said, "Here give me your hand."

Erstin complied, and her hand was sprayed with a tantalizing smell. "Wow that smells really good! But wait, where do the strawberries and mango come in?"

"My shampoo and conditioner, I know it's a weird combination but--"

"No," the blonde shook her head with a smile. "I like it."

Nina blushed, and as bad as it sounds, she was happy that Erstin was blind so that she wouldn't be able to see the pink hue that had come to her face.

_Ba-ba-ba-beep. _A soft tune began to fill the silence.

"What is that?"

"Oh, that's my phone, can you hold on? I'm going to be right back." The blonde nodded, and Nina gathered her things and went outside to answer the call.

"Hello, Nina?" a deep voice asked.

"Otousama!" she smiled after hearing her father's voice. "Wait, where are you?" her smile slowly changed into a frown. _'This can't be good. Calls usually mean--'_

"Nina, I'm sorry…"

'_No please don't, not again!'_

"I can't make it; Papa is in a very important meeting with the council of--"

'_Again, I knew it.' _

"It's fine," she grinned trying to sound cheerful. "I know you're busy! I'll just see you at the end of the month."

'_Just three more weeks.'_

"Next time I come into town, I'll see you. I promise!"

Nina could tell that Sergay was sorry, but it still hurt that he had broken yet another promise.

"Bye, Otousama."

"Stay safe, Nina."

"I will." As the blunette hung up, a lone tear fell from her eyes and she angrily wiped it away with the back of her hand.

Nina walked back into the café and sat back in her previous seat. _'He's busy and I'd just keep him from his work.' _She sighed._ 'Still that makes the sixth promise he broke this year… and it's only May.' _

"Nina!"

"Huh?" the blunette was confused.

"I swear," Takashi shook his head. "You can be deafer than Erstin sometimes."

Two statements came out at the same time: "Isn't she blind?" and "I can hear _way _better than you!"

Takashi waved off the remarks and continued, "I asked you if you wanted to sit with us since you were there by yourself."

Nina looked over at the empty seat across from her and nodded. "Sure, it's not like I'm waiting for anyone."

"Great!" the older blonde grinned patted the chair between him and Erstin.

"Yeah, just great." Nina smiled back.

--

"That was fun; thanks for letting me sit with you guys." Nina started to walk backwards. "I guess I'll see you later then." She waved at the two cousins before turning and walking away.

"Bye Nina." The blondes said in unison.

"Hey, Takashi…" Erstin whispered.

"Yeah, Ers-chan?" he grinned down at his cousin.

"Didn't you say something about asking Nina-chan something?" Nina hinted with a nudge of her elbow.

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know…" she winked. "You better catch up to her before it's too late."

"H-how do you even know?" he glanced at the retreating form of the blunette. "You can't even see…"

"Just go!" Erstin pushed Takashi the disappearing Nina.

"Ers… Ers-chan, wait!"

"Go, go, go!"

"But we aren't even going in the same direction she is!" the dirty-blonde stood steadfast near the middle of the empty street.

"Oh, oops! Sorry."

"It's okay." Takashi led the younger blonde back to the safety of the sidewalk. "Now wait here." He sighed. "I'm gonna go ask Nina ou… a question."

"M'kay!" Erstin grinned.

"Be right back!" Takashi called back to his cousin as he ran toward the girl in the distance.

--

Erstin sighed and listened to all the sounds around her. She had a deep look of concentration on her face as she tried to hear her cousin's signature step.

_Step step scuff step scuff step step._

Erstin grinned and waited for the male to get closer. "Took you long enough!"

"Wha? How'd you know I was here?!"

"Magic?"

"Whatever." Takashi shook his head and pulled the younger girl closer to ruffle her hair.

"Hey, don't mess up the hair!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just so excited!"

"Oh, did she say yes?"

"Um, actually I didn't ask her yet." The male scratched the back of his head. "But I asked her to meet me at the café on Friday, and she said yes!"

"Oh… oh really?" _'Why don't I sound excited..?' _

"It's great isn't it?!" the dirty-blonde exclaimed.

"Are you going to be ready for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow…?" Takashi raised an eyebrow.

"Well yeah, tomorrow's Friday." Erstin explained.

"You have _got _to be kidding me! I thought today was Wednesday!"

Erstin shook her head, "I was wondering why you said 'Friday' instead of 'tomorrow.'"

"Ugh." Takashi sunk his shoulders. "Ers-chan, help me!" he whined.

"Fine then, c'mon." the blind female replied with a sigh. She proceeded to grab the older man's arm and drag him away.

"Um, Ers-chan…?"

"What?"

"You think I could lead? You're kind of goin' the wrong way…."

"Whatever!" Erstin threw her hands up exasperatedly and held out her hand for her cousin to grab.

"Thanks Ers-chan."

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**A/N: **Well that was pretty darn boring, but I guess I just needed to get the story going. Hopefully I'll update my other stories soon. That'll be a while though. So I hope you somewhat enjoyed this chapter, and review, but that's not needed.

peace, yo!  
-naomi


	3. Accidents Happen

**Your Eyes are Golden**

They met before the accident, they met after the surgery; they met when she was blind, and they met now that she can see—and the first thing the girl sees, are her golden eyes, as bright as the sun can be.

--

Chapter Three: _Accidents Happen_

_Beep beep beep._

Nina awoke with a groan and pushed the off button on the top of her alarm. She arched her back and cutely rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before swinging her legs over the edge of her queen-sized bed.

The fated day had arrived, although she wouldn't actually call it "fated" since she was only asked yesterday, but today was still the day that she would be going to the café on the… whatever it was she was going to do with Takashi. _'And maybe Erstin too, wait, why am I thinking about her…?'_

She shook her head and blamed the thoughts on thinking too hard after just waking up. Nina groggily walked over to her dresser to grab some clothes for the day, and then she went to take a shower. After half an hour of scrubbing her body and washing her hair with her signature scents, Nina dried herself off on a large fluffy towel and got dressed.

When she was finished dressing and brushing her hair, Nina looked into a large mirror that was hanging on her door. Her dark-blue hair was in its usual hairstyle: bangs swooped toward the right side of her face, two spiky ponytails on the back of her head, and two thin braids that came low from the back of her head and rested on different shoulders. For her clothing she wore a black RED shirt that had the word "INSPI(RED)" on it and some faded, dark-blue low-rise jeans.

She smiled at her choice and walked over to her closet and pulled out a pair of white canvas Vans before slipping them on. She grabbed her backpack and a sports bag (that was filled with extra clothes) and made her way to the downstairs for a quick breakfast that she could take to school.

--

Nina's classes were rather uneventful, she hadn't seen Takashi the entire day and on her Advanced Physics 3 test she had gotten an A, but aside from that, nothing good had happened, actually the rest of the things that _had_ happened were worse than good.

After classes at the University, Nina went to track practice, she was barely getting times and she was completely missing her marks. She sighed, today was an off day, and off days at track for 

the star runner, were like bad omens. Similarly, if she did excellent in track, she would have a great day, whether it is the day she did well or someday soon.

She walked over to the starting blocks to get ready for her last hurdle set she had to do.

"On your mark." The assistant coach called out. "Get set." She continued, raising her right hand. "Go!"

And at the sound of a whistle Nina pushed off hard on the blocks and sped toward the first hurdle.

'_One, two, three, jump!' _Nina thought in her head. She had long perfected the three step hurdle technique, so running the hundred meters along with jumping over hurdles was quite easy.

'_Step-one, two, three, jump!' _The blunette thought once again after clearing the third hurdle.

'_One, step, two, three… jump!' _This time she had messed up, she wasn't sure if she had jumped too early or too late, all that she knew is that she had hit the fifth hurdle and was going down.

All of a sudden, there was silence. All eyes were on the blunette on the ground, murmurs were heard and gasps were made. "What happened?!" "Nina-san fell?!" "The world is coming to an end!" and other ridiculous comments came from the team.

"Nina, are you okay?" the monotone voice of the team captain asked.

"Uh, I think so Tomoe-senpai." The blunette grabbed the offered hand and brushed the dirt off of her body. "I'm just having an off day."

"Maybe you should stop for the day," Tomoe smiled warmly at the star athlete.

"Thanks…?" Nina was surprised, no one ever got out of practice when Tomoe was around. But she took the offer nonetheless and started the trek towards the locker rooms.

"Yeah, we need you in perfect shape for tomorrows meet." The green-haired captain mumbled aloud after Nina had gotten out of earshot.

Everyone else was still standing around and watching the scene, including a certain redhead. "Heh, you seem to be getting soft Tomoe…"

The green-haired woman just huffed and turned towards the redhead to make a smart comment, that is, until she saw that the whole rest of the team's eyes were on her.

"I don't think I was asking you to rest! What are you girls standing around for? Give me some laps!" she blew her whistle loudly and everyone quickly went back to practice.

"Getting soft, Nao?" Tomoe smirked, sarcastically repeating the question after the crowd had subsided. "Give me three of your sprinting repeats, starting at fifty meters then going to four hundred meters, with an increase of a hundred meters each time."

"What?! You can't be serious! That doesn't even equal four hundred meters!" the redhead retorted.

"I know, that's why you're going to go from three hundred meters to four hundred meters." Tomoe grinned evilly.

"Oh, you bitch." Nao mumbled under her breath.

"I'll make sure I remember that tonight." Tomoe winked and blew her whistle. "C'mon, you aren't going to finish the workout by standing still!"

"Agh!" Nao flicked her captain off and began her sprints.

Tomoe smiled and called out after her girlfriend, "Oh we're gonna have to wait 'til later for that, Nao-_chan!"_

'_I hate you.'_ With that last thought, Nao continued running.

'_Ah, power is such a wonderful thing.'_ Tomoe kept her eyes on the redhead's body as she sprinted off. _'As is Nao's body…. I do hope she won't be too tired for another workout tonight.'_

--

After Nina had showered and changed, she had walked to the small café that was near the University.

'_And now we play the waiting game…'_

Nina sighed and watched as many customers came and went through the small doors of the shop. She looked at her cell phone; the time was 5:45pm, and about an hour and a half past the predetermined meeting time. She sighed again.

'_Why is everyone standing me up? Was there some written book that said, "Ditch Nina at the Windbux Café whenever you ask her out"?' _

Nina knew that Takashi was not the type of guy to stand a girl up, much less, let one sit alone—she laughed at that part after remembering the previous day—so she decided to call him to see if something was up. The call went through, but there was no answer. And after she waited for fifteen more minutes, she decided to go home.

On the walk she nearly tripped three times and dropped her bag twice. Today _was_ a bad day.

--

When she arrived home, the television was already on and the channel it was on just happened to be the news.

"There was an accident last night on South Avenue where a drunk driver drove up, onto the sidewalk, and hit two pedestrians." The male newscaster began.

Nina walked into her living room and sat down on a large leather couch to continue watching the story.

"The male, and eldest of the two, took the brunt of the impact as he shielded his blind cousin from the car."

'_Oh god, please… no. Please don't let this be happening!'_ Nina shook her head and debated on whether or not she should be turning off the TV or leaving it on. She reached for the remote.

"With her cousin's heroic acts, the younger woman, Erstin Ho, was able to sustain minor injuries." There was sympathy in the newscaster's voice as he continued with the story. "But the same could not be said for Takashi Ho, he is currently in critical condition at the South Bloom Hospital, fa—"

The rest of the news was ignored as Nina shut off the TV—she had all the information she needed—and grabbed her bag before running out the door.

--

The hospital wasn't too far from where the blunette lived; in fact, she lived closer to the hospital than she did to the University. She was out of breath by the time she reached South Bloom Hospital or "Bloom Hospital as many people called it, which makes more sense since there was no North Bloom Hospital, or any other "Bloom Hospital" for that matter. There _were_ other hospitals in Windbloom, it's just their names had nothing to do with directions or blooms.

Nina looked up at the large hospital with determination,_ 'If I searched the rooms nonstop it would take me about an hour or two to find which room Takashi is in…'_

The girl shook her head and recalled a phrase that Takashi would repeatedly say with a smile, "I don't like your technicalities, why can't you just keep things simple?"

'_Right, simple.' _Nina quickly made her way to the reception area. "Takashi Ho's room… please." She half panted out.

The receptionist typed away at a computer before replying, "Room 418, that's on the fourth floor."

"Thanks." Nina managed a smile before fast-walking to the elevators.

Nina tapped her foot, "Come on…" the orange number above the metal box was a nine with an arrow pointing down. "Eight… seven… six… five…" she muttered the numbers under her breath as the elevator came down floors. "Four…" she crossed her arms, waiting for the numbers to continue descending. "Three… three… three…" Nina repeated the word a few times in hope to speed the box up, but soon got fed up and turned toward the stairs.

The blunette lunged up the stairs; she sometimes took three or four at a time. It was like these that made Nina happy to run track and be experienced in hurdles, although she was unhappy that she had to be running up stairs in a hospital to visit a close friend, she was glad she did do track because running and jumping up the stairs would be exhausting otherwise.

Finally a large blue four on a door let the blunette know that she was on the fourth floor. She burst through the door and looked around to see if she could find the direction Takashi's room was in. A small sign a short distance away—and next to the elevator—had an arrow that pointed left for the rooms with the numbers 401-420 and an arrow that pointed right for those from 421-440.

Nina took a deep breath and sprinted down the hallway to the left.

--

**A/N:** Newest chapter update! I hope that whoever reads it likes it. I am also going to _try _to update all of my stories (if they have multiple chapters) over this summer. If I don't, at least I tried! Anyways you don't have to leave a review, but it's always nice to know if this story sucks as much ass as I think it does. Oh, I didn't really read this over either, so if there are mistakes, would you please tell me? It would be most appreciated!

Oh if you didn't know, I think this story is going to comprise of three parts/arcs, all within the same story. The first and current part is "Before the accident and Blindness." Next would be "After the accident and Surgery." And finally, "After the surgery and Seeing." The arc titles may be subject to change and there maybe added arcs or ars that might not be there. The ideas are a bit incomplete, but I know where I'm going with this, so have a little faith?

Thanks again for reading, and I would like to **Thank the reviewers of the past chapters! It is thanks to you that I was able to continue writing this!** Seriously though, reviews make writers happy, and a happy writer (at least in my case) means more chapters!!

peace out!  
naomi


	4. She Needs to See

You're Eyes are Golden

They met before the accident, they met after the surgery; they met when she was blind, and they met now that she can see—and the first thing the girl sees, are her golden eyes, as bright as the sun can be.

--

Chapter Four: _She Needs to See _

'_I have to get there quickly—I have to see if he's all right.'_ Those were the only words that were on the blunette's mind as she began to run down the hallway. Room 418 was the second-to-the-last door on the right at the end of the hallway.

By the time she reached the door, Nina was barely winded, but she took a deep breath from the short sprint to calm her unsettled nerves as she raised a fist to the painted, wooden door. She knocked.

"Takashi?" Nina asked quietly in a hesitant tone, almost as if the patient she knew was on the other side would disappear from her speaking in a louder tone.

"Nina?" the blonde male from inside the room called after a while; unknowingly putting the dark-haired female's mind to ease by affirming he had not disappeared, but instead had just woken up from a nap.

Said female opened the door and slowly stepped inside, a small, but warm smile on her face, "Hey, big guy."

"Hey, lil girl," Takashi grinned at the frown he received. "Sorry for standing you up," he laughed and began to cough. Nina made a move towards the bed, but was stopped when the blonde held up a casted arm. After the coughing died down, he finished his joke, "I wouldn't have missed it, but I kinda got hit by something that wasn't so _unavoidable_ at the time."

Nina laughed slightly and shook her head; it was so like her best friend to make light of a bad situation, "Don't worry about it then, next time you just have to take me somewhere nicer."

The bedridden male's eyes widened, "Are you saying--"

The lithe track star cut him off, "I'm saying we'll talk about it once you're out of here. Y'know, give you something to look forward to." She said it as if it meant nothing, but the rising heat to her cheeks told the male otherwise.

"Okay, I'll make sure to get out of here soon!"

Nina nodded and smiled softly. She then walked to the unoccupied chair that was located next to Takashi's bed and sat down on it. They relaxed in silence, as they often did in each other's company.

"Hey Nina…" he trailed off waiting for the female to respond.

"Mm," She mumbled. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning back on two legs of the stiff, metal chair.

"They say I'm going to need surgery."

The dark-haired female gasped, that had brought her out of her contented state. "But you look fine," she commented, sitting upright to give the male a once-over.

"I know I do, but they say that there may be something wrong. A few of my ribs are broken and it's a little hard to breathe." He waited for Nina to digest the information a bit before continuing, "I'm going under in a few hours."

"That soon?"

"Wouldn't you rather it be sooner than later?" Nina gave a hesitant look, not because she couldn't decide, but because she didn't like the idea of him having surgery. Takashi took a couple of breaths before speaking again, "Well, I'll put it this way, the sooner I'm out, the sooner I can recover and get back to you!" Takashi gave the girl a boyish smile.

Nina smiled back, albeit somewhat forcefully.

Takashi decided to change the subject, "Have you visited Erstin yet?"

Nina looked surprised, "Erstin's here too?" She felt a quick constricting feeling in her chest, whatever it was released its hold when the male spoke again.

"Yeah," Takashi nodded. "I absorbed most of the blow and took the most damage, but when the car hit, we flew." He looked down and clenched his un-casted hand into a fist, "When we hit the ground, she bumped her head on the side of a building and got knocked out. I heard she's a couple of doors down."

Nina placed a hand on Takashi's shoulder and he relaxed a bit. She knew her best friend felt guilty about not being able to protect his younger cousin from all the harm that came their way. "So you want me to check up on her?"

"Of course!" the blonde all but yelled, "I need you to see if she's all right!"

Nina nodded and began to walk away from the male. He called her before she could reach the door.

"I need you to do something for me first, you up for it?"

"Anything I can do to help."

"There's a pad and paper on the desk over there, get 'em and bring 'em here, please." Takashi's deep voice was full of seriousness, but he still managed a small smile.

Nina nodded and went to get the aforementioned items, "Okay, I have them."

"Write everything I tell you, okay?" he asked seriously and waited for a confirmation. Nina looked confused but nodded. "Good girl," Takashi smiled playfully.

Nina glared and Takashi chuckled, "So remember, _everything_ I say."

The blunette nearly growled, "Okay, just tell me what to write already."

Takashi took a few short breaths before looking Nina in the eye, "Ready?"

She nodded.

"This is Takashi Ho, the person who is writing this is Nina Wang." Nina followed everything the male was saying, writing the words quickly but neatly. "I give her full permission to write this and I will sign at the bottom of this page as proof." He paused a moment to take a few breaths. "The current time is 5:03 p.m. on the 24th day of September, the year 20X7. In about an hour and a half, I will be going into surgery for a few things, the main one's being my heart and lungs."

Nina gasped and looked up from the paper she was writing on. Takashi waved it off and continued to speak, "I am not sure if I will make it through this surgery, but just in case I don't…" the scribbles had stopped and Takashi looked once more at the female. "Please, Nina, you have to do this."

A lone tear fell from the blunette's eye and onto the small piece of unlined paper. She looked up at the blonde lying down on the bed and finally noticed how pale he truly was. She gazed into Takashi's eyes and saw pain in them, the pain he had been hiding from her. She saw fear, the fear that he was not going to make it, that he was not going to be all right. She also saw the worry in those hazel orbs, she knew it was worry for his beloved cousin; he was worried about whether or not she was truly okay; there was also worry for her in eyes, but that was something she couldn't see—she couldn't see that he was worried about whether or not she'd be okay if he didn't make it through the operation.

Nina nearly choked up at the sight of her best friend, but she didn't, she needed to stay strong, she had to. The male beside her needed her support, he needed her strength, and she had to be able to give it to him.

The blunette nodded to the blonde and picked up the pencil that had fallen to the ground. She was ready to continue writing.

Takashi gave a small grateful smile, but it soon vanished into a serious face, "But, just in case… in case I don't make it through the… operation," Takashi began to stutter, he didn't want to think about it, but he had to. He took a deep breath, "I donate my eyes, well, my corneas and retinas to my cousin, Erstin Ho, so that she may have the transplant she needs."

"But if the operation is a success and I end up being in a comatose state, I do not want to be a vegetable." Takashi sniffed, having just made the toughest decision he knew someone might possibly have to make. "I want… I want to be known for being strong; I do not want to be taken care of like some baby for the rest of my life. I still want my essential eye parts to be given to Erstin though; she's my world, so as long as her operation is a success, I… I-I would be able to die happily." The blonde looked up at the ceiling and into its blinding lights with a sigh; his usually playful demeanor changed to a somber one, looking like someone matured past his years.

Nina could only watch the change from her metal chair at the male's bedside. He wasn't the usual Takashi she knew, that much was obvious. Her Takashi was an optimist, she wasn't exactly sure what this one was… maybe an overly realist or some closet cynic, she didn't know. But she never voiced her thoughts; she knew it must have been hard to this new Takashi to do what he was doing: thinking of the worst case scenario and preparing for it, to protect the ones he cared about.

The blonde continued speaking solemnly, not even waiting for the blunette to get ready to write, "If I do make it through the surgery as a vegetable, I don't want anyone to tell Erstin, I just want her to have her surgery… and to live a new life. Even if it is without me…"

Nina had hurriedly copied what was said, but as she realize what exactly was said, she had to stop, "Takashi, she needs to kn--"

"No!" he interrupted loudly. "She only needs to see—this must be done, because if I end up as a potato or something, she'll try to stop someone from… yeah. She'll want to take care of me. That can't happen—she won't be living _her_ life!"

"She loves you and deserves to know! What if she can't live without—"

"Stop!" Takashi yelled shaking his head harshly, he didn't want to hear that, he didn't want to go back on his decision—he was doing what was best for Erstin. After awhile he sighed, "Please just stop. Can we just continue this thing?" Without waiting for an answer, he began to speak in a light tone, "Now, for my darling Nina."

Said female blushed as she wrote the words. Takashi was just happy to sort of be off the previous subject.

"I give to her my entire manga collection, because I know she loves them." He turned back to his normal self, adding an emphatic nod at the end of his sentence.

"Takashi!" Nina blushed, embarrassed, but was otherwise happy to see the regular side of her friend.

"Okay, sorry! But you can seriously have them; I want you and Erstin to split my belongings. Y'know, take what you want, donate what you don't…?"

Nina sighed and wrote the words down. She then realized that there were no "ifs" in his sentence. "Wait, you're acting as if you won't even make it through. You'll be okay…"

Takashi looked out of the window, and away from the blunette, to watch the sun that had began to set.

"You'll be fine, Takashi! I know you will." Nina's voice was full of confidence, but when the blonde didn't reply, she felt her confidence slip. "Don't you want to get through it…?" she asked softly, unsure whether or not she wanted to hear the male's answer.

The tiring blonde turned his head quickly, feeling something pop as he faced the blunette, "Of course I do, more than anything!" He sighed, "But I… never mind. Just let me sign the damned paper."

Takashi took the paper and began to sign it.

"Wow, you take long to write your signature." The blunette observed.

"Shut up! I'm sorry I'm not some freakishly fast writer." The blonde smirked teasingly. "Besides, my writing arm is broken, this is hard!"

They both shared a much needed laugh and didn't even notice when a nurse walked into the room.

"Excuse me, Ho-san?" Takashi nodded. "I need to prep you for surgery."

"Okay, can you give me a minute though?" The nurse nodded at his request and walked out of the room, leaving the two in privacy once more.

Takashi looked over at his best friend, the smile from her laugh had disappeared from her face and she was looking at her hands. "Hey, c'mere," he held out his arms, awaiting a hug.

Nina stood and walked closer to the bed, to the male still lying down. She mumbled, "Good luck," as he pulled her into a warm hug.

They pulled away slightly—still engulfed in each other's arms—to look into the eyes of the person opposite them.

Takashi leaned forward and gave Nina a soft peck on the cheek, and she leaned down to kiss his forehead, muttering the words, "Be safe," as she moved away.

He nodded, letting go of her hand so she could leave the room.

The nurse took her turn walking through the opened door and shut it behind her. But just before the door shut completely, she heard the male say, "Watch over Erstin for me."

--

With the door closed and Nina out of the room, Takashi erupted into a coughing fit. He grabbed the stained white cloth from its hiding place underneath his pillow to catch the blood the spewed from his mouth.

The nurse was at his side in seconds, calming him with an already prepared syringe. He felt his body go numb and slowly drifted off into unconsciousness. His arm fell limply to the side, the bloodstained cloth falling to the floor, forgotten.

--

Nina had been walking down the hall, checking the nameplates—that she hadn't noticed were on the doors earlier—for the petite blonde. Finally succeeding in finding the blonde's name on the door numbered 411, she raised her hand to knock on the door. It was then that she noticed the older blonde's final words to her.

They were, "Watch over Erstin for me," not, "Check up on Erstin for me," as they previously were. She gasped as she realized the blonde had accepted his fate.

She felt a wave crash down on her, and she leaned heavily onto the sturdy door for support as the gravity of the situation took its toll. If Takashi didn't make it through the operation, she would be losing her best friend—and one of the only ones she had. Not only that, but the male had placed a burden onto her shoulders. It was not because she would have to look after the blind female though, but instead because she would not be able to tell her anything that had happened. She would have to keep the secret from the blonde, and that was nearly lying to her.

She did not want to do it, but if things turned out badly, she would have to—she had given Takashi her word.

Gripping the doorway with so much force her knuckles turned white, she tried to calm her rushed breathing. After a few slow, deep breaths, she had successfully regained her composure.

Nina rapped on the door softly. She did not even wait for the familiar voice of the blonde; instead she just chose to step through the unlocked door.

"Erstin…"

--

**A/N:** Meh, I didn't really like this chapter... well, I'm not quite satisfied with it, but oh well. I hope you liked it. I know it seemed like Nina/Takashi this chapter but I assure you, this story WILL BE Nina/Erstin NOT Nina/Takashi. Besides, Takashi is Nina's best friend, so of course they were really close in this chapter. I mean, especially since they were about to go on a date (not that I would've let it actually happen), and he got hit by a car trying to save his cousin!

Sorry if anyone is a Takashi fan, but this needs to be done. -nods-

Well, if you're here, go ahead and review! If not, okay then... don't bother! But if you see any errors, please point them out!

-naomi


	5. The Star and the Moon

**A/N:** Just a quick thing I'd like to point out, the beginning of this chapter is a bit of an interlude. And that was originally going to be the title of this chapter, because that's all it was going to be, an interlude. But I added some things in at the end so it's not only an interlude, I guess.

* * *

**Your Eyes are Golden**

They met before the accident, they met after the surgery; they met when she was blind, and they met now that she can see—and the first thing the girl sees, are her golden eyes, as bright as the sun can be.

--

Chapter Five: _The Star and the Moon_

'_Why is it so bright?'_

She held out her hand to block the blinding light but it seeped through the cracks of her fingers.

'_Why is it so _bright_?'_

She turned her head to the side and shut her eyes tight.

'_Why is it _sobright?!'

Even with her eyes closed she could see the white light. It was excruciatingly bright and the heat emitting from it was painful. She could feel her eyes beginning to burn from the inside and she tried to scream but her throat was suddenly dry. She began to cough as the taste of smoke entered her lungs.

'_Help me.'_ She rasped and tried to open her eyes, but the slightest crack put made them feel as if they were on fire. _'I can't see…. I can't breathe….'_ She reached out blindingly for something to grab onto, but all she felt was air; hot, humid air.

'_Somebody… please…'_ She curled into a ball and started weeping, her tears feeling like burning oil as they flowed down her face, mixing with the sweat that soaked her body. _'I don't wanna… I don't wanna die.'_

Suddenly the heat became unbearable and she tried to crawl away. The light became dimmer but felt just as hot, and she chanced opening her eyes. She tried over and over again and but every time she opened them, even a little, there was darkness and a burning in her eyes; she decided to stop trying and keep them closed.

In attempting to open her eyes, her crawl slowed. Her toes began to blister and the scorching feeling crept up her ankle and around her calf; she could feel the pain but she was not able to utter a cry—her voice getting clogged in her throat each time.

She quickened her pace, favoring her left leg more in the fast crawl; but her escape was abruptly stopped, for some kind of object blocked her path. She beat on the barrier with her dirty palms and the wall rapidly crumbled as the heat enclosed on her.

She hurriedly jumped through the hole, nearly getting snagged on the barrier as she made her exit. She started to relax when she could no longer feel the burn of the flames.

Her fear was claimed again when she realized she was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Then nothing.

Nothing but the darkness she had slowly gotten used to. It was hard though, there was an occasional passage of light—of color, and it weakened her defenses. With color she imagined sight, but as soon as the thought of the color crossed her mind, there would no longer be color, and no longer would there be sight; only eternal darkness.

There was complete darkness—not including the imaginary colors—for two years; after that there was a dim light. It paled in comparison to the hot, white light she last remembered, but it shined brightly in the abyss that she was used to. Her star, as she affectionately named the light, was very far away and would disappear at times; other times it would seem so close that she could reach out and touch it. Of course she never tried; she didn't want risk losing her twinkle of hope like the other lights that were drowned out by the darkness.

She would bask in the surprisingly warm heat that the little light, her star, provided. And when it disappeared, she waited patiently for it to come back—she knew it would come too—because it always came back, just like it had every day for the past nine years.

Over the past few days though, the little star had grown immensely, and it had found a friend; she now had two tiny objects lighting up her darkness. Although one was larger than the other, which was very surprising considering the fact that it was the friend her star had brought along.

She began to ponder the reason for the larger light as she sat alone, waiting for her star to come for its daily visit, but she could come up with no answer.

Somewhere along the line the girl had gotten tired of sitting and waiting for her star and decided to lay down in the darkness. It had been hours—nearly a day by the internal clock in her mind—since she had last seen the tiny light and she grew worried. She tried to relax, thinking on the one time the star had spoken.

--

It was back in the first days of seeing the tiny light—five days after her ninth birthday—and she had only seen the little star twice: the first for a short period of time on her birthday and the second for a considerable amount of time the day after. She was extremely happy for having the dim light that she had forgotten what it was like to be completely in the dark, and that was what caused her to go crazy.

The first day without the light she had thought it was playing a game with her and would show up soon; it never came.

The second day she began to wonder if she had erred in some way as she searched the darkness for the tiny star. _'Little star where did you go? Have I scared you away like I did the other lights?'_ were the nine-year-old's thoughts as she wandered about the abyss.

The third day she sat in one place and cried, waiting for the light to come back and warm her with its presence.

The fourth day she had tried to ignore the pain in her chest from the warmth leaving her. She tried to continue on, as always, alone in the dark.

The fifth day she snapped. She had been sitting in the shadows of her mind, rocking back in forth, talking to the darkness and imagining it to be the tiny star that had gotten past the defenses she built for two years. Things went decently until her imaginary star disappeared and she was left alone by her own mind.

The girl was completely lost, in her mind and in reality. She ran away from her aunt's house and walked blindly into a forest. After some time of wandering, she began to feel cold; night had fallen, and of course without her sight, she could not see where she was headed. She unknowingly came upon a slippery slope, and with a wrong step, fell down it into a freezing cold river.

She screamed as she fell; not knowing which darkness she was falling in, her reality or her mind. At the touch of the cold water, she knew it was her reality that she had fallen in. That terrified her because now she was not only alone in her mind, but outside of it also.

"Help me!" she cried, trying to maneuver herself through the shallow waters. "Somebody… please!" She continued to yell until she finally managed to get out to the river and sit on the muddy soil beside it.

The girl sat alone, and freezing cold in her eternal darkness, hoping and wishing for someone to save her.

Then, all of a sudden, warmth encompassed itself around her body. The bright light was back, her star was back! She thought, and let herself be smothered by the heat it provided.

"I'll never leave you," the star said, "I'll always be by your side… I'll protect you, Erstin."

That was the first and last time the star ever spoke, but it always kept its promise—keeping at her side and protecting her.

--

She smiled. _'My star will definitely return.'_

There was a faint glow nearing her as she wandered the darkness of her thoughts.

'_My star!'_ she exclaimed, happy to see it after such a long time without it. _'Finally you've come back!'_

The glow brightened as it neared. It became the miniature moon she had met recently.

She noticed the difference stopped her slow jog as the moon approached. _'That's weird; you never come unless you're with my star.'_ She turned her head and looked about the darkness for her other source of light, but none appeared._ 'Where are you?'_

No answer and no light.

'_What did you do?_' she questioned the moon. Sure she was happy for a release from her darkness, but it wasn't the same—even if the moon was just as warm as the star and its warmth was warmersomehow… it just wasn't the same.

'_What did you _do?!' she yelled at the glow, collapsing in a fit of tears. _'No, no…'_

_**Knock-knock.**_

The sound brought her out of her reverie.

"Erstin?" a voice called out and the sound of a door opening could be heard.

Erstin squirmed in the hospital bed as she tried to focus on her reality.

"Erstin!" Nina called out and ran to the blonde's side. "Wake up… wake up, Erstin!"

"Star… my star…" Erstin mumbled, switching between her mind and the reality. She saw a flicker for a moment and her star appeared before the large moon. _'Star..?'_

She fell into the darkness to follow the light. "Star, wait… hold on!" she muttered, not realizing the blunette at her bedside could hear her every word.

"_Goodbye, Erstin. I'll always be by your side… I'll always protect you. Remember that."_ The light began to flicker and become overpowered by the darkness.

"No… no." she shook her head and tried to chase after the fading star. "Wait! Don't leave me!"

The voice of the star echoed in her ears, _"I'll never leave you. I'll always be by your side… I'll always protect you, Erstin…"_

All was quiet, but there was an everlasting warmth from where her star had once been. The moon had disappeared and there was a slight stinging in her eyes. _'Goodbye, star.'_

--

A light had appeared in the darkness; Erstin noticed it as her moon. The warmth of the moon had grown immensely since she last felt it and she felt herself being pulled back into the real world.

Someone beside her was speaking and she couldn't comprehend what the voice was saying, but it was soothing and it caused her to slowly wake.

Erstin tried to open her eyes but felt some kind of fabric covering it so she stopped her efforts—she assumed that the cloth was covering her eyes to prevent more of the slight stinging sensation she had felt earlier.

"Erstin…?" Nina asked gently.

"Nina-san?"

"Yeah, I was here yesterday, but the doctors kicked me out so you could have your operation."

Erstin assumed her blue-haired friend was smiling by the tone of her voice and smiled back. Then it donned on her, she didn't remember any operation or why she would even need one. "Operation? Where am I?"

"Yes, you had an operation to fix your eyes, Erstin. You're at a hospital because… there was an accident." Nina looked away sadly.

The blonde nodded slowly, she remembered the accident. Takashi pushed her out of the way… Takashi! "Where's Takashi?" she quickly asked.

Nina shook her head. She didn't want to answer, even if the other girl couldn't see her, she couldn't bring herself to talk about her best friend's death.

Erstin could hear the movement and she knew what Nina was doing. She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself from crying. She could hear the other girl's silent tears falling to the ground or onto the soft linen.

This made her secretly happy for her eye surgery, because even if her eyes were burning, the cloth over her eyes would soak up all her tears.

--

**A/N:** Wow! I am like rushing through this! It's so weird, huh? Like in the last chapter it was the day after the accident and Nina was walking knocking on the door, but now it's like the day _after_ that day! Idk if you noticed that at all, but I did it purposefully, because it'd be waaay to fast if she had her operation right before Nina walked in. Talk about impossible! So I had to make Nina come back the next day.

Sorry if this chapter confused anyone... I kind of enjoyed writing it (even though it's really horrible). Sorry for all the "she"s in this chapter too.

Oh, and big one, I'm so very sorry for killing of Takashi. I didn't want to, but I couldn't have him alive... I couldn't risk Nina falling for a comatose boy (that and I'd keep forgetting to write about Takashi if he was still alive). I'll probably bring him into another of my stories... or not.

Anyways, thank you for reading and all the reviewers who reviewed!!

-naomi

PS. If you read Forecast or any of my _other_ ShizNat/MaiKoto stories... you're screwed! 'Cuz I'm screwed! I talk about it in my profile if you want to know why they won't be updated anytime soon.


	6. Trust Me

**Your Eyes are Golden**

They met before the accident, they met after the surgery; they met when she was blind, and they met now that she can see—and the first thing the girl sees, are her golden eyes, as bright as the sun can be.

--

Chapter Six: _Trust Me_

"Tell me again, why I must use a cane?"

"Because you're recovering from surgery and you may have trouble walking."

"Nina-san," Erstin said, looking towards her blue-haired friend. "You do remember that I was _blind_ and that the surgery was done on my _eyes_, right?"

Nina turned away from door she was about to open, and grabbed the cane the blonde kept nudging her with. "Of course I remember…" she scoffed. "I just got it for you _in case_ you felt dizzy. Since the surgery was done on your eyes you might get a migraine… or something."

"Well thank you for being so thoughtful," Erstin smiled brilliantly and took the walking aid back from blushing blunette. "We ought to get going, lead the way, won't you?"

They left the room together to stand out in the hall.

"So where to?" Nina asked, clearly unprepared for taking care of another person.

"Home would be nice." Erstin replied nonchalantly.

"Home..?"

"Your place or mine; either is fine with me," the blonde started. "On second thought, can we go to my house? I don't have my walking stick."

Nina frowned. _'A cane is a walking stick…'_

The blonde continued, seeming to read the other woman's thoughts, "And as nice as this cane is, it's a bit different of a feel and I'd feel more comfortable knowing what I'm walking against—or on—from the sound it makes."

Nina made an 'oh' face and then hummed, after realizing that the girl couldn't see her face.

"Let's go then," Nina said, walking away. When she got to the elevator she stopped to see Erstin making her way slowly towards her. "Erstin."

The blonde jumped. She had been concentrating so hard on walking that she didn't notice Nina right in front of her. "Y-yes, Nina-san?"

The elevator opened up and Nina stepped inside. "Can I see something?"

Erstin nodded and followed the blunette's voice by stepping into the elevator. "Sure, what do you want?"

The blunette looked down at the blonde, "Let me see the cane." Although her voice was casual, she could feel the heat creeping up her face at what she was going to do.

"But I can't see if I... I mean, I won't know where I'm going if I don't have it."

_Ding._ The elevator signaled the arrival to the hospital lobby.

"I know," Nina flushed slightly as she took the cane with one hand and the smaller girl's hand in her other. "That's why you have to make sure to stick with me. I'll get you home safe."

--

"So how long is it until the bandages come off?" Nina asked, trying to make conversation. She turned her head to face the blonde as they walked through a park.

Erstin's head tilted to the side in thought, "I think it was… a week?" she replied, not exactly sure.

Nina sighed, "I'll call the hospital later, just in case." Erstin nodded with a grateful smile.

The two exited the park and began to walk along the crowded sidewalk before Nina observed something. She opened her mouth to ask if Erstin had seen it too, but closed it suddenly in remembrance. Instead she glanced around to make sure if she had been correct, and she was. Many of the people they passed had been staring at them.

'_But why?'_ the blunette thought; looking over her blonde to see if something was amiss. _'She is pretty—pretty interesting, that is. That's all; they're looking at her because she's interesting.'_ She shook her away her thoughts and continued to walk the remainder of the way to Takashi and Erstin's apartment. '_Well I suppose it's only Erstin's now…'_

Erstin shifted and Nina looked down—it was then that she noticed their clasped hands. It felt so natural to hold the petite woman's hand that Nina hadn't realized she was still doing it. She understood why many passersby had been staring; they assumed she and Erstin were a couple.

Nina blushed and tried to ignore the staring.

"It's all right."

Nina started at Erstin's voice and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Erstin began to remove her hand from Nina's grasp. "I can feel them--the stares."

"No," Nina replied, surprising herself at the suddenness. She really didn't know why she had even said it, but she did know she didn't want to let go of the other woman's hand. "You trust me, right?" The blonde nodded. "Well, it's fine," her tone lightened and she smiled, "I told you I'd keep you safe."

Erstin couldn't help but smile at her friend's words; the corners of her lips curving up slightly in a shy smile, and she could feel the blood accumulating in her cheeks. "Thanks," she muttered softly.

"Anytime."

--

Nina sat in the middle of a cozy living room. She glanced around at the modest furnishings and neutral colors of the home. '_I haven't been here for so long, and the feeling is just as relaxing as last time.'_

The room, as well as the apartment itself, seemed to make anybody feel at home. Cream colored chairs and sofas complimented the oak cabinets, entertainment stand, and tables. Plants of various colors gave the house an even livelier feel as they sat in their respective spots near the windows. A miniature grand piano sat in a corner of the room, its ebony and ivory keys glinting from the nearby sunlight.

'_Wait, piano…? Takashi didn't play the piano, he planted… plants.' _

_Tap-slide. Tap. Slide-tap._

Nina turned toward the noise and watched as Erstin made her way over to her.

"Nina-san?" the blonde called out as she stepped into the living room.

"Over here, Erstin." Nina turned away from the blonde and pressed a few keys on the piano. "Hey, whose piano is this?" She glanced at the girl standing next to her. "I know Takashi didn't play… I mean unless he just started or something."

"Oh, w-well, it's mine." Erstin muttered hesitantly.

"You play?" The blonde nodded. "Wow that's amazing! But I mean, isn't it hard since you can't see?"

"Not really," Erstin said, running a hand across the keys before settling on one and pressing it down. "I just need to memorize the locations of the keys and listen to the sounds. The rest is easy."

Nina watched in amazement as Erstin took a seat on the small bench and began to play a song. The blonde's fingers flew expertly over the ivory keys and pushed down with just the right amount of pressure to make notes flow beautifully. She stopped short, and the notes jammed together as she quickly stood.

"That was wonderful… why'd you sto—"

"Well, I got my stick." Erstin sniffed. "I think we can go now."

Nina got worried when she saw the smaller woman raise a hand to rub at fabric over her eyes. "Are you okay, Ers?"

"I'm… I'm fine, c-can we just go. Please?" Erstin said, her voice straining a bit at the end.

Nina nodded, "Whatever you want. Where would you like to go?"

"Home… yours please. I just can't be here anymore. I can feel him everywhere…" Erstin frowned deeply and grabbed at her chest as if she just noticed something. "It-it hurts. I feel like this is a dream and-and I'm waiting for him to walk through that door… or something." She sobbed into her hands. "Something… anything. P-please… just tell me… tell me it's a joke! I'll forgive you if-if you just come back… Takashi…."

Nina looked at the girl in front of her, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Hesitantly, she reached out and placed her hand on Erstin's shoulder. The blonde, needing comfort, lunged into the blunette's arms; and that time, Nina didn't hesitate, she quickly pulled Erstin into her.

"Come back…" Erstin wept against Nina's shoulder.

'_I'm so sorry Erstin… I'm so sorry.'_ Nina continued to think that phrase over and over again in her mind as she rocked the blonde slowly. She stood with the other girl for a long time, occasionally she would offer words of comfort, but more often than not, she just silently rubbed circles on the blonde's back. '_I promise I'll be here for you, Ers. You don't have to go through this alone, I'm here.'_

After her silent vow, Erstin's sobs began to die down. When there were only hiccups left, Nina pulled away slightly, but still held the blonde in her arms. Erstin turned her head up and smiled sadly, "Thank you, Nina. I'm sorry you had to see that…"

"No." Nina shook her head and squeezed Erstin a little tighter. "Do you trust me, Erstin?"

"Of course I do." The blonde said, tilting her head slightly to show she was confused.

"Well then you'll know that I'm here for you Ers, you don't have to do this alone." She said, repeating her vow aloud. "I'll protect you."

Erstin lowered her head before lifting it up to show a sincere smile. "Thank you, Nina-chan."

The blunette extracted herself from the blonde's arms and blushed deeply at the warm smile that was directed toward her. "Uh, well, you're welcome. So… home?"

Erstin nodded and began to walk toward the door, but stopped after she heard her name being called. "Yes?"

Nina caught up to the blonde and shifted shyly. "Um…"

"Yes, Nina-chan?" Erstin began to smirk.

"Well…" Nina began as she opened the apartment door. She turned her head toward the blonde and sighed. "Never mind."

Erstin closed up her retractable walking stick and attached it to her waist. She walked out the door and held her hand out to the blunette. "Let's go," She said, smiling as a blush crept up her cheeks.

Nina smiled warmly and grabbed the blonde's hand. She allowed her hand to be swung back and forth as they walked down the street.

_I trust you._

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, so here's the much needed update of YEAG. It's not a very well written update, but it's an update nonetheless. I'm sorry if I disappointed any of you with this, but I'm really hoping to finish this sometime soon because well... I wanna finish this up before I write something else. Plus this story isn't that great to begin with and I'm sure none of you will mind if I end it soon.

Anyways, thank you for reading! Please review if you have the time, if not, that's fine too! Oh, if there are any forecast fans out there... I'm gonna be putting up the next chapter sometime soon (maybe)! I just had to make sure I wrote this first. Yup, so look forward to it! ((And the language in that last chapter of Forecast was Al Bhed, so look it up if you couldn't figure it out anywhere.))

Anyways, just a shout-out to **Beez!** You are one awesome dude! You give me strength to keep on writing! hehe

Merry Christmas/Other holidays to you all!  
-naomi


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